Posts Tagged: the Kentucky Derby

“Disqualified”

On May 6, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer


My wife and I watched the Kentucky Derby today.  We thought the favorite, Maximum Security, had won.  It certainly seemed so . . . at first.

But then there was a “rider’s objection” by two jockeys, and a lengthy review by the stewards.  They took their time reviewing the videos that had been taken from several angles.  In the end, the decision was unanimous.  Country House had won.

The Apostle Paul spoke of his own determination not to be disqualified.  “24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Paul was writing to Christian believers from the city of Corinth, which was strategically located on the isthmus of Corinth.  You’ve heard of the Olympic Games, no doubt.  But perhaps you’ve never heard of the Isthmian Games.  Commenting on 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27, Leon Morris notes, “Athletic contests were common in the Greek world, and the Isthmian Games, second only to the Olympic Games, were held every two years at Corinth. Paul often uses imagery from the Games.”[1]

Paul was determined not to be disqualified in the Christian race.  He realized that preaching the gospel didn’t make him a winner.  Living the gospel was the only way to win.

And that leads me to a self-question that I can ask, but only God can answer: Am I living the gospel?

The main reason that Maximum Security was disqualified was that the horse didn’t stay in its own lane.  Thus, the horse impeded other horses.

Being in the Christian race to win is all very well and good.  But the question I need to ask myself, every day is this: Am I staying in my lane?  Am I running the best race I can, without impeding others?

[1]Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 7; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 137.

https://accordance.bible/link/read/Tyndale_Commentary#50703
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